Money for Metro

Congress should deliver matching funds for badly needed repairs.

ANYONE WHO has descended into the depths of the Tenleytown Metro station during the past year or so knows that Washington's public transportation system is getting creaky. Literally. The squeak of metal upon metal often shoots from the station's escalators, drowning out conversations and compelling headphone users to pump up the volume. Need we even mention the dozens of broken-down elevators and escalators across the system at any one time -- or the aging tracks, trains and buses? Metro's eroding infrastructure is a big problem, and it will only get worse unless the system gets an infusion of funds to upgrade its basic equipment.

In the last Congress, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) tried to do just that: He proposed a bill that would provide $1.5 billion in federal money over 10 years to retrofit the system -- on the condition that local governments match the money with revenue dedicated to Metro. Metro has had to beg annually for cash to pay its bills, an arrangement that has rendered needed funding unreliable, prevented long-term planning and investment, and led to the deterioration of the system. But Mr. Davis's bill stalled after overwhelmingly passing the House.

Now, with the 110th Congress in session, Mr. Davis has dutifully resubmitted the legislation, and it has already emerged from committee. On the Senate side, meanwhile, Maryland's Barbara A. Mikulski (D) and Benjamin L. Cardin (D) introduced the bill this week, with Virginia's senators, John W. Warner (R) and James Webb (D), signing on as co-sponsors. The bill is no wasteful federal handout -- Mr. Davis has pointed out that federal employees commuting into work make up nearly half of Metro's ridership. The bill would also add two federal representatives to the Metro board, who can help ensure that the money is spent responsibly.

Local officials have already responded to Mr. Davis's federal incentive. The District and Virginia have committed the requisite matching funds. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) claims that his state's share can come from the state's transportation trust fund, but in any case Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari says that the state is committed to matching the funds according to the language of the legislation that eventually emerges from Congress.

Now it's time for the federal government to take yes for an answer. The House and Senate should pass the bill this time around.